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| Amarachi |
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| Constance |
A distraught mother, Mrs. Constance
Nwawike, has narrated the anguish of looking for her missing daughter, Cynthia
Amarachi (25) for five months.
Constance, a primary school teacher,
said that Amarachi, who is undergoing her National Youth Service in Akure, Ondo
State, had been missing since March 15, 2019.
Amarachi, a Political Science
graduate of the University of Lagos State, boarded a commercial vehicle at Iwo
Road on the fateful day in question, and even exchanged pleasantries with her
friend in Akure, before the vehicle took off.
Amarachi’s friend became worried
after waiting expectantly for her phone call, to say she had reached her
destination, but such a call never came. The friend was further perturbed by
the fact that Amarachi’s phone was switched off.
Since the lady didn’t have Amarachi’s
parents’ phone number, she went on Facebook to search and finally got them. The
parents also said they had not heard from her.
Amarachi’s distressed mother said:
“On 15th of March, 2019, I called my daughter’s number, but it was switched
off. I thought it was network. On Monday, I called the number again, but still
got no response. I continued for three days without result. I then alerted my
husband. Suddenly, somebody called that they were looking for her. Before I got
the news, it was on a Friday, a week after 15th. The state coordinator of NYSC
also called to report that they had not seen her since she travelled.”
The woman continued: “I informed
them that she didn’t return home. The coordinator said her friend, also a corps
member, told them that she travelled to meet us in Lagos and since then, she
has been calling her number without a reply. I asked the man to give me the lady's
number. I talked to the lady and she said that she has been trying to reach me.
In fact, that Saturday, I wasn't myself. I went to Ikorodu Police Station and
reported the case. They said I should go to Ibadan because the lady made it
known that Amarachi took off from Ibadan -Iwo Road. I went to Osun State, where
she is serving. The head teacher there told me the same story. She said
that my daughter called her to say that she had boarded a bus going to Ikorodu
straight, and she asked her about the fare which she said was N1, 200 and since
then, she has been trying her number. We have gone as far as consulting
anti-kidnapping squad, where we were told that they tracked her number to Kano
State. The anti-kidnapping unit also told me that they made arrest. But since
then, police had become evasive. Last week, I called them, but they said that
they would call back, but they didn't. I also reported the case in Osun State
Police Command. I was invited for interview; when I got there, they said I
should connect them with the anti-kidnapping unit investigating the matter in
Lagos, which I did. The police later told me that they had been trying the
phone of policemen in anti-kidnapping unit, Lagos State, without success. Pleas
that police should intensify efforts and locate my daughter fell on deaf ears.
In fact, at a stage, the police in Osun State told me point blank that their
counterparts in Lagos do not want to relate with them over the case.”
Constance, who described her
daughter as not being wayward, disclosed that she also visited churches in her
desperation to locate Amarachi.
Her words: “I’ve been to several
churches, and they all told me that she is alive. I don’t know who to suspect
in the disappearance of my daughter. She didn’t even tell me that she was coming
home.
“The state coordinator also told me
that it was not in their power to restrict any corps member from going home on
weekend. Since Amarachi went to Osun, she has visited us at least twice. She
doesn't have a boyfriend. She schooled in UNILAG and most times, she comes to
my school, which was close to hers.”
According to Constance, on June 4th,
she called Amarachi’s phone number, it went through, and someone picked, but
refused to respond. She sent a text message, begging that her daughter should be
released, she didn’t receive a reply.
The factional Chairman of Nigeria
Labour Congress, Chief Joe Ajaero, uncle to Amarachi, said: “The family has
been in confusion since the disappearance of Amarachi. After we received the
sad news, her mother went round all the motor parks. We went to hospitals and
mortuaries. We went to anti-kidnap squad in Lagos State. The police got
discovered someone was still making use of her phone lines. They went there and
arrested three suspects in Ogun State forest. They took them to their office. I
don’t know what happened later because they were released. In fact,
someone is still using her second phone. It was tracked to Kano State. We got
across to the anti-kidnapping squad in Kano and after some efforts, the details
they gave us was not encouraging at all. Some of the guys in Lagos again
had to go to Kano to join them. After some days, the man was still using the
SIM to call and up till now, the man didn't show up and the authorities have
not gone beyond this point.
“Right now, we don’t know whether
she’s alive or dead. Some of the policemen, who are working on the IT side,
were able to actually trace the areas where the people using those lines are,
but beyond that, nothing has happened. We have prayed and we have done
everything humanly possible without success. Amarachi was posted to Taraba
State, but she redeployed because of insecurity.”
Police sources at the
anti-kidnapping unit, in Surulere, Lagos, said that after the report was made,
they worked on the two telephone numbers belonging to the victim and three
suspects were arrested inside a thick forest inhabited by herders in Ogumakin,
a boundary between Ogun and Oyo states.
According to sources, the three
suspects, who are soft targets, were the father of the main target, his wife
and sister. They were brought back to Lagos for further investigation.
They were later granted bail to reliable sureties because they were not the
target.
Police sources added that when the
detectives came back to Lagos to work on the victim’s second number, which was
earlier not accessible, they discovered that it was going through. They tracked
it to a town called Rijazaki in Kano State, where a girl suspected to be the
girlfriend to the main target was arrested.
The girl reportedly interacted with
the main target, who claimed to be in Kastina State on phone in the presence of
detectives. He told her to meet him at a nearby town called Rijaremi in Kastina
State. Unfortunately, when they all got there, the target failed to show
up. While they were still with the female suspect, a human right group
intervened, insisting that police couldn’t continue to detain her by
proxy.
Based on that, the detectives handed
the female suspect over to the leader of the town, Mai Angwa, after making a
video recording of their activities. She was released on the condition that
Angwa would produce her anytime her attention was needed by the police.
It was learned that they
handed over a copy of the video recording to the missing corps member’s uncle and
kept one for their use. Sources further said that the detectives laid ambush in
the town for days, expecting to arrest the main target, without success. Before
returning home, they also contacted Police Tactical Squad in Kano and after
briefing them, the unit assured them that they would continue to monitor the
target. Unfortunately, more than five months after, detectives in all the
police formations involved in the search have been unable to locate the
whereabouts of Amarachi.
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